Slow Science Communication

Most science communication today is short and fast — but at the Institute of Natural Sciences we also try something different. Together with colleagues, Siska Van Parys works on long-form stories that highlight the institute’s core research areas — palaeontology, geology, archaeology, taxonomy, evolution — and the collections that support them. They create overview articles on the website, mini-documentaries about expeditions and fieldwork, and stories that put the spotlight on the people behind the research. 

Siska will share some of the projects she’s been involved in, what they hope to achieve with them, and why slow science communication has become part of the approach of the Institute of Natural Sciences.

The main examples will revolve around two geology projects: ROBOMINERS and LEAP. These scientific projects, carried out by the geologists of the Institute of Natural Sciences (Giorgia Stasi, Christian Burlet, Sophie Verheyden), were followed and documented by Siska and her colleagues. The results are two mini-documentaries and long-reads.